Jane Harman resigned from Congress February 28, 2011 to join the Woodrow Wilson Center as its first female Director, President and CEO.

Representing the aerospace center of California during nine terms in Congress, she served on all the major security committees: six years on Armed Services, eight years on Intelligence, and eight on Homeland Security. During her long public career, Harman has been recognized as a national expert at the nexus of security and public policy issues, and has received numerous awards for distinguished service.

She is a member of the Defense Policy Board, the State Department Foreign Policy Board, and the Homeland Security Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Trilateral Commission and the Advisory Board of the Munich Security Conference.

Harman is a Trustee of the Aspen Institute and the University of Southern California. She is also a member of the Presidential Debates Commission.

A product of Los Angeles public schools, Harman is a magna cum laude graduate of Smith College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and Harvard Law School. Prior to serving in Congress, she was Staff Director of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Deputy Cabinet Secretary to President Jimmy Carter, Special Counsel to the Department of Defense, and in private law practice.

She has four adult children and four grandchildren.

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Jane Harman was interviewed on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports" regarding the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board's new report, which called the NSA's data collection program illegal. "My own view was and still is that the program is constitutional, but that’s only one piece. The second piece is, politically does it make sense, and in terms of US security, to have a program which is creating so much dissension in our own country?" Harman said. more

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"Too often, the preference is to tap terrorists’ phones and send spy satellites in search of hidden training camps, not to read the tweets of a 19-year-old jihadist. But in an era of online radicalization, indoctrination often happens in plain sight.," writes Jane Harman.

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Retired USMC General John Allen, who now serves as Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, recently visited the Wilson Center to discuss challenges and strategy with Wilson Center President, Jane Harman. Their discussion provides the focus for this edition of REWIND.

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Jane Harman comments on the developing ISIL situation; what might happen if ISIL did, in fact, obtain three fighter jets, the power and success of the Kurdish fighters, and the role that Turkey has played in the conflict.

Jane Harman contributed a short analysis to a debate on the U.S. defense budget for Politico’s “The Agenda,” arguing that expenditures for the latest counter-terrorism efforts against ISIL should be part of Congressionally authorized defense expenditures rather than in a separate fund.

"At this point in his presidency, Barack Obama has an opportunity to build consensus. With Eric Holder’s resignation, he should consider taking this opportunity to mend fences and revive a Cabinet once billed as a 'team of rivals.' So how about a Republican for attorney general?" writes Jane Harman.

"Despite its claims to the contrary, ISIS looks outmatched. But our recent strikes were just an opening salvo. A considered, long-term strategy (including kinetic action) needs a careful framework and congressional authorization. The debate is crucial, and the only way to make room for debate is with a special session of Congress. The president should seek it now," writes Jane Harman.

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